Health Professionals

The Florida AHEC Network offers tobacco continuing education programs to Florida’s practicing health professionals through a variety of techniques and formats

. In keeping with the Public Health Service Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: Clinical Practice Guideline – 2008 Update, the Network is effecting systems change by imparting to healthcare providers the skills necessary to treat tobacco dependence and ensure it is a top priority during patient consultations.

Continuing education topics include brief intervention training, motivational interviewing, new tobacco products, cessation techniques, pharmacotherapy, pediatric pulmonary issues related to secondhand smoke, and best practices for working with special populations, such as pregnant women and adolescents.  The trainings are available to health professionals at low or no cost, and they are provided through in-person workshops, seminars, conferences, symposia, and summits, as well as through DVD, CD-ROM, and Internet.

Click on the Find Training Near You link on the left to get information on specific programs in your area.

The purpose of the Treatment Specialist Training: This 3-day course meets the 24-hour National Standards for Tobacco Treatment Specialists (TTS) including the 11 core competencies: tobacco dependence, counseling skills, assessment interviewing, treatment planning, pharmacotherapy, relapse prevention, professional resources, ethics, professional development and much more.
Also being offered is a 4-hour facilitator training session on the Quit Smoking NOW (QSN) curriculum on the 4th day (September 2nd). This session prepares the TTS to offer the six session QSN classes in their communities. This additional session is not mandatory nor is it required for certification.

Download the Flyer (PDF)

Download the Course Overview (PDF)

Free 1 Hour CEU Credit Available

Tobacco Dependence and Mental Health Patients – Jill Williams, M.D.

1 Hour Webcast Available Now.  CEU available for Allied Health Professionals.

Jill Williams, MD, associate professor and director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at the UMDNJ – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, presents the final lecture in the series, Current Clinical Concepts in Tobacco Treatment entitled “Tobacco Dependence Treatment and Mental Health Patients – Bridging the Gap”.

Dr. Williams is a Board Certified Addictions Psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of tobacco and other addictions in mentally ill populations. She lectures extensively on changing mental health systems to incorporate tobacco dependence treatment.

Her lecture is sponsored by West Virginia University’s Translational Tobacco Reduction Research Program in conjunction with Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry.

This lecture was recorded on May 26, 2010 and may be accessed at http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/som/cmed/ophp/ClinicalConceptsTobacco2010.asp

1 hour CEU credit may be issued for webcast participants who complete and submit the online evaluation by June 25, 2010.  1 Hour of Continuing Education Credit will be provided at no cost for Psychology, Certified Addiction Counseling, Social Work and Counseling.  Attendance Record provided for CTTS and other disciplines.

Continuing Education Information:

Objectives:  Participants should be able to discus:

• The knowledge and skills necessary for assessment and treatment of smokers with mental illness.
• The behavioral and pharmacologic treatments for smokers with mental illness, including medication interactions associated with smoking.
• The motivational techniques for working with lower motivated smokers.

Allied Health Professionals:  This program has been approved for 1 continuing education hour by the WV Board of Social Work Examiners Provider #49080, the WV Board of Examiners of Psychology, and the WV board of Examiners in Counseling #535.   Partial funding provided through a grant by Pfizer.

Professional Resources

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